In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded in the lower 82 yen range in early deals in Tokyo. The yen is currently trading at 82.50 to the dollar.

Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea are trading notably higher. Hong Kong and Taiwan are up with modest gains, while Shanghai and Malaysia are trading flat.

The major averages finished the day firmly in positive territory after ending the previous session mixed. The Dow rose 39.6 points or 0.3 percent to 13,074, the Nasdaq advanced 15.6 or 0.5 percent to 2,989.3 and the S&P 500 climbed 4.7 points or 0.3 percent at 1,413.9.

Major European markets too ended higher on Thursday. The German DAX index gained 1.1 percent, while the French CAC 40 index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index moved up by 0.3 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively.

U.S. crude oil ended sharply lower for a third straight session on Thursday, on a strong dollar and demand concerns after an Energy Information Administration weekly oil report yesterday showed a more-than-expected increase in gasoline inventories last week.

Crude for January delivery plummeted $1.62 or 1.8 percent to close at $86.26 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.